Multi-part internal-external process system for providing virtualization security protection

ABSTRACT

In embodiments of the present invention improved capabilities are described for a host machine that manages a plurality of virtual machines associated with an enterprise through a supervisory process, the host machine including a threat management facility coupled in a communicating relationship with the plurality of virtual machines and enforcing a security policy of the enterprise for the plurality of virtual machines; and a first virtual machine from among the plurality of virtual machines, the first virtual machine capable of operating in a first state on the host machine wherein the security policy is enforced by the threat management facility, and the first virtual machine capable of operating in a second state wherein a local security facility executable on the first virtual machine autonomously enforces the security policy in the absence of the threat management facility.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The present invention is related to protection of a client machine, andmore specifically the protection of a client machine in a virtualizedenvironment.

2. Description of the Related Art

Securing client machines in an enterprise is a constant challenge,especially when the client machines are part of a virtualizedenvironment in a high availability mode where disconnection from thehost system can leave the client exposed to threats (for example whenmobile devices are moved off a corporate network), even when thedisconnection is only a transitory state. Therefore there is a need forimproved methods for protecting clients in a virtualized environment.

SUMMARY

In embodiments, the present invention may create a multi-partdistributed vendor neutral virtualization security system, where twodistinct processes provide protection in an inside/outside approach tosecuring distributed virtualization environments. In normal operationthe inside process may lay dormant except for communication with theoutside process providing the default protection. In embodiments, theoutside environment may or may not exist on the client device beingprotected. If the inside process can no longer communicate with theoutside process, the inside process may then begin the real timeprotection of the virtualized environment. In this way, the client mayalways be protected, even when the client loses connectivity with theoutside protection process.

These and other systems, methods, objects, features, and advantages ofthe present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art fromthe following detailed description of the preferred embodiment and thedrawings. All documents mentioned herein are hereby incorporated intheir entirety by reference.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The invention and the following detailed description of certainembodiments thereof may be understood by reference to the followingfigures:

FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of a threat management facility providingprotection to an enterprise against a plurality of threats.

FIG. 2 depicts a top-level block diagram of an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 depicts a top-level block diagram of an embodiment of the presentinvention, including virtualized clients located on a server.

FIG. 4 depicts a flow diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 depicts a top-level block diagram an embodiment of the presentinvention, including a host managing a plurality of virtual machines.

FIG. 6 depicts a flow diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

While the invention has been described in connection with certainpreferred embodiments, other embodiments would be understood by one ofordinary skill in the art and are encompassed herein.

All documents referenced herein are hereby incorporated by reference.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of a threat management facility providingprotection to an enterprise against a plurality of threats. An aspect ofthe present invention relates to corporate policy management andimplementation through a unified threat management facility 100. As willbe explained in more detail below, a threat management facility 100 maybe used to protect computer assets from many threats, bothcomputer-generated threats and user-generated threats. The threatmanagement facility 100 may be multi-dimensional in that it may bedesigned to protect corporate assets from a variety of threats and itmay be adapted to learn about threats in one dimension (e.g. wormdetection) and apply the knowledge in another dimension (e.g. spamdetection). Policy management is one of the dimensions for which thethreat management facility can provide a control capability. Acorporation or other entity may institute a policy that prevents certainpeople (e.g. employees, groups of employees, types of employees, guestof the corporation, etc.) from accessing certain types of computerprograms. For example, the corporation may elect to prevent itsaccounting department from using a particular version of an instantmessaging service or all such services. In this example, the policymanagement facility 112 may be used to update the policies of allcorporate computing assets with a proper policy control facility or itmay update a select few. By using the threat management facility 100 tofacilitate the setting, updating and control of such policies thecorporation only needs to be concerned with keeping the threatmanagement facility 100 up to date on such policies. The threatmanagement facility 100 can take care of updating all of the othercorporate computing assets.

It should be understood that the threat management facility 100 mayprovide multiple services, and policy management may be offered as oneof the services. We will now turn to a description of certaincapabilities and components of the threat management system 100.

Over recent years, malware has become a major problem across theinternet 154. From both technical and user perspectives, thecategorization of a specific threat type, whether as virus, worm, spam,phishing exploration, spyware, adware, or the like, is becoming reducedin significance. The threat, no matter how it is categorized, may needto be stopped at various points of a networked computing environment,such as one of an enterprise facility 102, including at one or morelaptops, desktops, servers, gateways, communication ports, handheld ormobile devices, firewalls, and the like. Similarly, there may be lessand less benefit to the user in having different solutions for known andunknown threats. As such, a consolidated threat management facility 100may need to apply a similar set of technologies and capabilities for allthreats. In certain embodiments, the threat management facility 100 mayprovide a single agent on the desktop, and a single scan of any suspectfile. This approach may eliminate the inevitable overlaps and gaps inprotection caused by treating viruses and spyware as separate problems,while simultaneously simplifying administration and minimizing desktopload. As the number and range of types of threats has increased, so mayhave the level of connectivity available to all IT users. This may havelead to a rapid increase in the speed at which threats may move. Today,an unprotected PC connected to the internet 154 may be infected quickly(perhaps within 10 minutes) which may require acceleration for thedelivery of threat protection. Where once monthly updates may have beensufficient, the threat management facility 100 may automatically andseamlessly update its product set against spam and virus threatsquickly, for instance, every five minutes, every minute, continuously,or the like. Analysis and testing may be increasingly automated, andalso may be performed more frequently; for instance, it may be completedin 15 minutes, and may do so without compromising quality. The threatmanagement facility 100 may also extend techniques that may have beendeveloped for virus and malware protection, and provide them toenterprise facility 102 network administrators to better control theirenvironments. In addition to stopping malicious code, the threatmanagement facility 100 may provide policy management that may be ableto control legitimate applications, such as VoIP, instant messaging,peer-to-peer file-sharing, and the like, that may undermine productivityand network performance within the enterprise facility 102.

The threat management facility 100 may provide an enterprise facility102 protection from computer-based malware, including viruses, spyware,adware, Trojans, intrusion, spam, policy abuse, uncontrolled access, andthe like, where the enterprise facility 102 may be any entity with anetworked computer-based infrastructure. In an embodiment, FIG. 1 maydepict a block diagram of the threat management facility 100 providingprotection to an enterprise against a plurality of threats. Theenterprise facility 102 may be corporate, commercial, educational,governmental, or the like, and the enterprise facility's 102 computernetwork may be distributed amongst a plurality of facilities, and in aplurality of geographical locations, and may include administration 134,a firewall 138A, an appliance 140A, server 142A, network devices 148A-B,clients 144A-D, such as protected by computer security facilities 152,and the like. The threat management facility 100 may include a pluralityof functions, such as security management facility 122, policymanagement facility 112, update facility 120, definitions facility 114,network access rules facility 124, remedial action facility 128,detection techniques facility 130, testing facility 118, threat researchfacility 132, and the like. In embodiments, the threat protectionprovided by the threat management facility 100 may extend beyond thenetwork boundaries of the enterprise facility 102 to include clientfacilities 144D that have moved into network connectivity not directlyassociated or controlled by the enterprise facility 102. Threats toclient facilities 144 may come from a plurality of sources, such as fromnetwork threats 104, physical proximity threats 110, secondary locationthreats 108, and the like. Clients 144 may be protected from threatseven when the client 144 is not located in association with theenterprise 102, such as when a client 144E-F moves in and out of theenterprise 102 such as interfacing with an unprotected server 142Cthrough the Internet 154, when a client 144F is moving into a secondarylocation threat 108 such as interfacing with components 136B, 142B,148C, 148D that are not protected, and the like. In embodiments, thethreat management facility 100 may provide an enterprise facility 102protection from a plurality of threats to multiplatform computerresources in a plurality of locations and network configurations, withan integrated system approach.

In embodiments, the threat management facility 100 may be provided as astand-alone solution. In other embodiments, the threat managementfacility 100 may be integrated into a third-party product. Anapplication programming interface (e.g. a source code interface) may beprovided such that the threat management facility 100 may be integrated.For instance, the threat management facility 100 may be stand-alone inthat it provides direct threat protection to an enterprise or computerresource, where protection is subscribed to directly 100. Alternatively,the threat management facility may offer protection indirectly, througha third-party product, where an enterprise may subscribe to servicesthrough the third-party product, and threat protection to the enterprisemay be provided by the threat management facility 100 through thethird-party product.

The security management facility 122 may include a plurality of elementsthat provide protection from malware to enterprise facility 102 computerresources, including endpoint security and control, email security andcontrol, web security and control, reputation-based filtering, controlof unauthorized users, control of guest and non-compliant computers, andthe like. The security management facility 122 may be a softwareapplication that may provide malicious code and malicious applicationprotection to a client facility 144 computing resource. The securitymanagement facility 122 may have the ability to scan the client facility144 files for malicious code, remove or quarantine certain applicationsand files, prevent certain actions, perform remedial actions and performother security measures. In embodiments, scanning the client facility144 may include scanning some or all of the files stored to the clientfacility 144 on a periodic basis, may scan applications once theapplication has been requested to execute, may scan files as the filesare transmitted to or from the client facility 144, or the like. Thescanning of the applications and files may be to detect known maliciouscode or known unwanted applications. In an embodiment, new maliciouscode and unwanted applications may be continually developed anddistributed, and updates to the known code database may be provided on aperiodic basis, on a demand basis, on an alert basis, or the like.

In an embodiment, the security management facility 122 may provide foremail security and control, where security management may help toeliminate spam, viruses, spyware and phishing, control of email content,and the like. The security management facility's 122 email security andcontrol may protect against inbound and outbound threats, protect emailinfrastructure, prevent data leakage, provide spam filtering, and thelike. In an embodiment, security management facility 122 may provide forweb security and control, where security management may help to detector block viruses, spyware, malware, unwanted applications, help controlweb browsing, and the like, which may provide comprehensive web accesscontrol enabling safe, productive web browsing. Web security and controlmay provide internet use policies, reporting on suspect devices,security and content filtering, active monitoring of network traffic,URI filtering, and the like. In an embodiment, the security managementfacility 122 may provide for network access control, which may providecontrol over network connections. Network control may stop unauthorized,guest, or non-compliant systems from accessing networks, and may controlnetwork traffic that may not be bypassed from the client level. Inaddition, network access control may control access to virtual privatenetworks (VPN), where VPNs may be a communications network tunneledthrough another network, establishing a logical connection acting as avirtual network. In embodiments, a VPN may be treated in the same manneras a physical network.

In an embodiment, the security management facility 122 may provide forhost intrusion prevention through behavioral based protection, which mayguard against unknown threats by analyzing behavior before software codeexecutes. Behavioral based protection may monitor code when it runs andintervene if the code is deemed to be suspicious or malicious.Advantages of behavioral based protection over runtime protection mayinclude code being prevented from running, whereas runtime protectionmay only interrupt code that has already partly executed; behavioralprotection may identify malicious code at the gateway or on the fileservers and deletes it before reaching end-point computers and the like.

In an embodiment, the security management facility 122 may provide forreputation filtering, which may target or identify sources of knownmalware. For instance, reputation filtering may include lists of URIs ofknown sources of malware or known suspicious IP addresses, or domains,say for spam, that when detected may invoke an action by the threatmanagement facility 100, such as dropping them immediately. By droppingthe source before any interaction can initiate, potential threat sourcesmay be thwarted before any exchange of data can be made.

In embodiments, information may be sent from the enterprise back to athird party, a vendor, or the like, which may lead to improvedperformance of the threat management facility 100. For example, thetypes, times, and number of virus interactions that a client experiencesmay provide useful information for the preventions of future virusthreats. This type of feedback may be useful for any aspect of threatdetection. Feedback of information may also be associated with behaviorsof individuals within the enterprise, such as being associated with mostcommon violations of policy, network access, unauthorized applicationloading, unauthorized external device use, and the like. In embodiments,this type of information feedback may enable the evaluation or profilingof client actions that are violations of policy that may provide apredictive model for the improvement of enterprise policies.

In an embodiment, the security management facility 122 may provide forthe overall security of the enterprise facility 102 network or set ofenterprise facility 102 networks, may provide updates of malicious codeinformation to the enterprise facility 102 network, and associatedclient facilities 144. The updates may be a planned update, an update inreaction to a threat notice, an update in reaction to a request for anupdate, an update based on a search of known malicious code information,or the like. The administration facility 134 may provide control overthe security management facility 122 when updates are performed. Theupdates may be automatically transmitted without an administrationfacility's 134 direct control, manually transmitted by theadministration facility 134, or the like. The security managementfacility 122 may include the management of receiving malicious codedescriptions from a provider, distribution of malicious codedescriptions to enterprise facility 102 networks, distribution ofmalicious code descriptions to client facilities 144, or the like. In anembodiment, the management of malicious code information may be providedto the enterprise facility's 102 network, where the enterprisefacility's 102 network may provide the malicious code informationthrough the enterprise facility's 102 network distribution system.

The threat management facility 100 may provide a policy managementfacility 112 that may be able to block non-malicious applications, suchas VoIP 164, instant messaging 162, peer-to-peer file-sharing, and thelike, that may undermine productivity and network performance within theenterprise facility 102. The policy management facility 112 may be a setof rules or policies that may indicate enterprise facility 102 accesspermissions for the client facility 144, such as access permissionsassociated with the network, applications, external computer devices,and the like. The policy management facility 112 may include a database,a text file, a combination of databases and text files, or the like. Inan embodiment, a policy database may be a block list, a black list, anallowed list, a white list, or the like that may provide a list ofenterprise facility 102 external network locations/applications that mayor may not be accessed by the client facility 144. The policy managementfacility 112 may include rules that may be interpreted with respect toan enterprise facility 102 network access request to determine if therequest should be allowed. The rules may provide a generic rule for thetype of access that may be granted; the rules may be related to thepolicies of an enterprise facility 102 for access rights for theenterprise facility's 102 client facility 144. For example, there may bea rule that does not permit access to sporting websites. When a websiteis requested by the client facility 144, a security facility may accessthe rules within a policy facility to determine if the requested accessis related to a sporting website. In an embodiment, the securityfacility may analyze the requested website to determine if the websitematches with any of the policy facility rules.

The policy management facility 112 may be similar to the securitymanagement facility 122 but with the addition of enterprise facility 102wide access rules and policies that may be distributed to maintaincontrol of client facility 144 access to enterprise facility 102 networkresources. The policies may be defined for application type, subset ofapplication capabilities, organization hierarchy, computer facilitytype, user type, network location, time of day, connection type, or thelike. Policies may be maintained by the administration facility 134,through the threat management facility 100, in association with a thirdparty, or the like. For example, a policy may restrict IM 162 activityto only support personnel for communicating with customers. This mayallow communication for departments requiring access, but may maintainthe network bandwidth for other activities by restricting the use of IM162 to only the personnel that need access to IM 162 in support of theenterprise facility 102. In an embodiment, the policy managementfacility 112 may be a stand-alone application, may be part of thenetwork server facility 142, may be part of the enterprise facility 102network, may be part of the client facility 144, or the like.

In embodiments, the threat management facility 100 may provideconfiguration management, which may be similar to policy management, butmay specifically examine the configuration set of applications,operating systems, hardware, and the like, and managing changes to theirconfigurations. Assessment of a configuration may be made against astandard configuration policy, detection of configuration changes,remediation of improper configuration, application of newconfigurations, and the like. An enterprise may keep a set of standardconfiguration rules and policies which may represent the desired stateof the device. For example, a client firewall may be running andinstalled, but in the disabled state, where remediation may be to enablethe firewall. In another example, the enterprise may set a rule thatdisallows the use of USB disks, and sends a configuration change to allclients, which turns off USB drive access via a registry.

In embodiments, the threat management facility 100 may also provide forthe removal of applications that may interfere with the operation of thethreat management facility 100, such as competitor products that mayalso be attempting similar threat management functions. The removal ofsuch products may be initiated automatically whenever such products aredetected. In the case where such applications are services are providedindirectly through a third-party product, the application may besuspended until action is taken to remove or disable the third-partyproduct's protection facility.

Threat management against a sometimes quickly evolving malwareenvironment may require timely updates, and the update managementfacility 120 may be provided by the threat management facility 100. Inaddition, a policy management facility 112 may also require updatemanagement (e.g. as provided by the update facility 120 hereindescribed), as the enterprise facility 102 requirements for policieschange enterprise facility 102, client facility 144, server facility 142enterprise facility 102. The update management for the security facility122 and policy management facility 112 may be provided directly by thethreat management facility 100, such as by a hosted system or inconjunction with the administration facility 134. In embodiments, thethreat management facility 100 may provide for patch management, where apatch may be an update to an operating system, an application, a systemtool, or the like, where one of the reasons for the patch is to reducevulnerability to threats.

In embodiments, the security facility 122 and policy management facility112 may push information to the enterprise facility 102 network and/orclient facility 144, the enterprise facility 102 network and/or clientfacility 144 may pull information from the security facility 122 andpolicy management facility 112 network server facilities 142, there maybe a combination of pushing and pulling of information between thesecurity facility 122 and the policy management facility 112 networkservers 142, enterprise facility 102 network, and client facilities 144,or the like. For example, the enterprise facility 102 network and/orclient facility 144 may pull information from the security facility 122and policy management facility 112 network server facility 142 mayrequest the information using the security facility 122 and policymanagement facility 112 update module; the request may be based on acertain time period, by a certain time, by a date, on demand, or thelike. In another example, the security facility 122 and policymanagement facility 112 network servers 142 may push the information tothe enterprise facility's 102 network and/or client facility 144 byproviding notification that there are updates available for download andthen transmitting the information. The combination of the securitymanagement 122 network server facility 142 and security update modulemay function substantially the same as the policy management facility112 network server and policy update module by providing information tothe enterprise facility 102 network and the client facility 144 in apush or pull method. In an embodiment, the policy management facility112 and the security facility 122 management update modules may work inconcert to provide all the needed information to the enterprisefacility's 102 network and/or client facility 144 for control ofapplication execution. In an embodiment, the policy update module andsecurity update module may be combined into a single update module.

As threats are identified and characterized, the threat managementfacility 100 may create definition updates that may be used to allow thethreat management facility 100 to detect and remediate the latestmalicious software, unwanted applications, configuration and policychanges, and the like. The threat definition facility 114 may containthreat identification updates, also referred to as definition files. Adefinition file may be a virus identity file that may includedefinitions of known or potential malicious code. The virus identity(IDE) definition files may provide information that may identifymalicious code within files, applications, or the like. The definitionfiles may be accessed by security management facility 122 when scanningfiles or applications within the client facility 144 for thedetermination of malicious code that may be within the file orapplication. The definition files may contain a number of commands,definitions, or instructions, to be parsed and acted upon, or the like.In embodiments, the client facility 144 may be updated with newdefinition files periodically to provide the client facility 144 withthe most recent malicious code definitions; the updating may beperformed on a set time period, may be updated on demand from the clientfacility 144, may be updated on demand from the network, may be updatedon a received malicious code alert, or the like. In an embodiment, theclient facility 144 may request an update to the definition files froman update facility 120 within the network, may request updateddefinition files from a computing facility external to the network,updated definition files may be provided to the client facility 114 fromwithin the network, definition files may be provided to the clientfacility 144 from an external computing facility from an externalnetwork, or the like.

In an embodiment, a definition management facility 114 may provide forthe timely updates of definition files information to the network,client facilities 144, and the like. New and altered malicious code andmalicious applications may be continually created and distributed tonetworks worldwide. The definition files that maintain the definitionsof the malicious code and malicious application information for theprotection of the networks and client facilities 144 may need continualupdating to provide continual defense of the network and client facility144 from the malicious code and malicious applications. The definitionfiles management may provide for automatic and manual methods ofupdating the definition files. In embodiments, the network may receivedefinition files and distribute the definition files to the networkclient facilities 144, the client facilities 144 may receive thedefinition files directly, or the network and client facilities 144 mayboth receive the definition files, or the like. In an embodiment, thedefinition files may be updated on a fixed periodic basis, on demand bythe network and/or the client facility 144, as a result of an alert of anew malicious code or malicious application, or the like. In anembodiment, the definition files may be released as a supplemental fileto an existing definition files to provide for rapid updating of thedefinition files.

In a similar manner, the security management facility 122 may be used toscan an outgoing file and verify that the outgoing file is permitted tobe transmitted per the enterprise facility 102 rules and policies. Bychecking outgoing files, the security management facility 122 may beable discover malicious code infected files that were not detected asincoming files as a result of the client facility 144 having beenupdated with either new definition files or policy management facility112 information. The definition files may discover the malicious codeinfected file by having received updates of developing malicious codefrom the administration facility 134, updates from a definition filesprovider, or the like. The policy management facility 112 may discoverthe malicious code infected file by having received new updates from theadministration facility 134, from a rules provider, or the like.

The threat management facility 100 may provide for a way to controlaccess to the enterprise facility 102 networks. For instance, theenterprise facility 102 may want to restrict access to certainapplications, networks, files, printers, servers, databases, or thelike. In addition, the enterprise facility 102 may want to restrict useraccess under certain conditions, such as the user's location, usagehistory, need to know, job position, connection type, time of day,method of authentication, client-system configuration, or the like.Network access rules may be developed by the enterprise facility 102, orpre-packaged by a supplier, and managed by the threat managementfacility 100 in conjunction with the administration facility 134.Network access rules and control may be responsible for determining if aclient facility 144 application should be granted access to a requestednetwork location. The network location may be on the same network as thefacility or may be on another network. In an embodiment, the networkaccess control may verify access rights for client facilities 144 fromwithin the network or may verify access rights of computer facilitiesfrom external networks. When network access for a client facility 144 isdenied, the network access control may send an information file to theclient facility 144, the information file may contain data or commandsthat may provide instructions for the remedial action facility 128. Theinformation sent by the network access facility 124 control may be adata file. The data file may contain a number of commands, definitions,instructions, or commands to be parsed and acted upon through theremedial action facility 128, or the like. The information sent by thenetwork access facility 124 control may be a command or command filethat the remedial action facility 128 may access and take action upon.

In an embodiment, the network access rules 124 may provide aninformation store to be accessed by the network access control. Thenetwork access rules facility 124 may include databases such as a blocklist, a black list, an allowed list, a white list, an unacceptablenetwork site database, an acceptable network site database, a networksite reputation database, or the like of network access locations thatmay or may not be accessed by the client facility 144. Additionally, thenetwork access rules facility 124 may incorporate rule evaluation; therule evaluation may parse network access requests and apply the parsedinformation to network access rules. The network access rule facility124 may have a generic set of rules that may be in support of anenterprise facility's 102 network access policies, such as denyingaccess to certain types of websites 158, controlling instant messenger162 accesses, or the like. Rule evaluation may include regularexpression rule evaluation, or other rule evaluation method forinterpreting the network access request and comparing the interpretationto the established rules for network access. In an embodiment, thenetwork access rules facility 124 may receive a rules evaluation requestfrom the network access control and may return the rules evaluation tothe network access control.

Similar to the threat definitions facility 114, the network access rulefacility 124 may provide updated rules and policies to the enterprisefacility 102. The network access rules facility 124 may be maintained bythe network administration facility 134, using network access rulesfacility 124 management. In an embodiment, the network administrationfacility 134 may be able to maintain a set of access rules manually byadding rules, changing rules, deleting rules, or the like. Additionally,the administration facility 134 may be able to retrieve predefined rulesets from a provider that may provide a set of rules to be applied to anentire enterprise facility 102. The network administration facility 134may be able to modify the predefined rules as needed for a particularenterprise facility 102 using the network access rules managementfacility 124.

When a threat or policy violation is detected by the threat managementfacility 100, the threat management facility 100 may provide for aremedial action facility 128. Remedial action may take a plurality offorms, such as terminating or modifying an ongoing process orinteraction, sending a warning to a client or administration facility134 of an ongoing process or interaction, executing a program orapplication to remediate against a threat or violation, recordinteractions for subsequent evaluation, or the like. Remedial action maybe associated with an application that responds to information that aclient facility 144 network access request has been denied. In anembodiment, when the data file is received, remedial action may parsethe data file, interpret the various aspects of the data file, and acton the parsed data file information to determine actions to be taken onan application requesting access to a denied network location. In anembodiment, when the data file is received, remedial action may accessthe threat definitions to parse the data file and determine an action tobe taken on an application requesting access to a denied networklocation. In an embodiment, the information received from the facilitymay be a command or a command file. The remedial action facility maycarry out any commands that are received or parsed from a data file fromthe facility without performing any interpretation of the commands. Inan embodiment, the remedial action facility may interact with thereceived information and may perform various actions on a clientrequesting access to a denied network location. The action may be one ormore of continuing to block all requests to a denied network location, amalicious code scan on the application, a malicious code scan on theclient facility 144, quarantine of the application, terminating theapplication, isolation of the application, isolation of the clientfacility 144 to a location within the network that restricts networkaccess, blocking a network access port from a client facility 144,reporting the application to a administration facility 134, or the like.

Remedial action may be provided as a result of a detection of a threator violation. The detection techniques facility 130 may includemonitoring the enterprise facility 102 network or end-point devices,such as by monitoring streaming data through the gateway, across thenetwork, through routers and hubs, and the like. The detectiontechniques facility 130 may include monitoring activity and stored fileson computing facilities, such as on server facilities 142, desktopcomputers, laptop computers, other mobile computing devices, and thelike. Detection techniques, such as scanning a computer's stored files,may provide the capability of checking files for stored threats, eitherin the active or passive state. Detection techniques, such as streamingfile management, may provide the capability of checking files receivedat the network, gateway facility, client facility 144, and the like.This may provide the capability of not allowing a streaming file orportions of the streaming file containing malicious code from enteringthe client facility 144, gateway facility, or network. In an embodiment,the streaming file may be broken into blocks of information, and aplurality of virus identities may be used to check each of the blocks ofinformation for malicious code. In an embodiment, any blocks that arenot determined to be clear of malicious code may not be delivered to theclient facility 144, gateway facility, or network.

Verifying that the threat management facility 100 is detecting threatsand violations to established policy, may require the ability to testthe system, either at the system level or for a particular computingcomponent. The testing facility 118 may allow the administrationfacility 134 to coordinate the testing of the security configurations ofclient facility 144 computing facilities on a network. Theadministration facility 134 may be able to send test files to a set ofclient facility 144 computing facilities to test the ability of theclient facility 144 to determine acceptability of the test file. Afterthe test file has been transmitted, a recording facility may record theactions taken by the client facility 144 in reaction to the test file.The recording facility may aggregate the testing information from theclient facility 144 and report the testing information to theadministration facility 134. The administration facility 134 may be ableto determine the level of preparedness of the client facility 144computing facilities by the reported information. Remedial action may betaken for any of the client facility 144 computing facilities asdetermined by the administration facility 134; remedial action may betaken by the administration facility 134 or by the user of the clientfacility 144.

The threat research facility 132 may provide a continuously ongoingeffort to maintain the threat protection capabilities of the threatmanagement facility 100 in light of continuous generation of new orevolved forms of malware. Threat research may include researchers andanalysts working on known and emerging malware, such as viruses,rootkits a spyware, as well as other computer threats such as phishing,spam, scams, and the like. In embodiments, through threat research, thethreat management facility 100 may be able to provide swift, globalresponses to the latest threats.

The threat management facility 100 may provide threat protection to theenterprise facility 102, where the enterprise facility 102 may include aplurality of networked components, such as client facility 144, serverfacility 142, administration facility 134, firewall 138, gateway, hubsand routers 148, threat management appliance 140, desktop users, mobileusers, and the like. In embodiments, it may be the end-point computersecurity facility 152, located on a computer's desktop, which mayprovide threat protection to a user, and associated enterprise facility102. In embodiments, the term end-point may refer to a computer systemthat may source data, receive data, evaluate data, buffer data, or thelike (such as a user's desktop computer as an end-point computer), afirewall as a data evaluation end-point computer system, a laptop as amobile end-point computer, a PDA as a hand-held end-point computer, amobile phone as an end-point computer, or the like. In embodiments,end-point may refer to a source or destination for data, including suchcomponents where the destination is characterized by an evaluation pointfor data, and where the data may be sent to a subsequent destinationafter evaluation. The end-point computer security facility 152 may be anapplication loaded onto the computer platform or computer supportcomponent, where the application may accommodate the plurality ofcomputer platforms and/or functional requirements of the component. Forinstance, a client facility 144 computer may be one of a plurality ofcomputer platforms, such as Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and the like,where the end-point computer security facility 152 may be adapted to thespecific platform, while maintaining a uniform product and productservices across platforms. Additionally, components may have differentfunctions to serve within the enterprise facility's 102 networkedcomputer-based infrastructure. For instance, computer support componentsprovided as hubs and routers 148, server facility 142, firewalls 138,and the like, may require unique security application software toprotect their portion of the system infrastructure, while providing anelement in an integrated threat management system that extends outbeyond the threat management facility 100 to incorporate all computerresources under its protection.

The enterprise facility 102 may include a plurality of client facility144 computing platforms on which the end-point computer securityfacility 152 is adapted. A client facility 144 computing platform may bea computer system that is able to access a service on another computer,such as a server facility 142, via a network. This client facility 144server facility 142 model may apply to a plurality of networkedapplications, such as a client facility 144 connecting to an enterprisefacility 102 application server facility 142, a web browser clientfacility 144 connecting to a web server facility 142, an e-mail clientfacility 144 retrieving e-mail from an internet 154 service provider'smail storage servers 142, and the like. In embodiments, traditionallarge client facility 144 applications may be switched to websites,which may increase the browser's role as a client facility 144. Clients144 may be classified as a function of the extent to which they performtheir own processing. For instance, client facilities 144 are sometimesclassified as a fat client facility 144 or thin client facility 144. Thefat client facility 144, also known as a thick client facility 144 orrich client facility 144, may be a client facility 144 that performs thebulk of data processing operations itself, and does not necessarily relyon the server facility 142. The fat client facility 144 may be mostcommon in the form of a personal computer, where the personal computermay operate independent of any server facility 142. Programmingenvironments for fat clients 144 may include CURI, Delphi, Droplets,Java, win32, X11, and the like. Thin clients 144 may offer minimalprocessing capabilities, for instance, the thin client facility 144 mayprimarily provide a graphical user interface provided by an applicationserver facility 142, which may perform the bulk of any required dataprocessing. Programming environments for thin clients 144 may includeJavaScript/AJAX, ASP, JSP, Ruby on Rails, Python's Django, PHP, and thelike. The client facility 144 may also be a mix of the two, such asprocessing data locally, but relying on a server facility 142 for datastorage. As a result, this hybrid client facility 144 may providebenefits from both the fat client facility 144 type, such as multimediasupport and high performance, and the thin client facility 144 type,such as high manageability and flexibility. In embodiments, the threatmanagement facility 100, and associated end-point computer securityfacility 152, may provide seamless threat protection to the plurality ofclients 144, and client facility 144 types, across the enterprisefacility 102.

A computer, such as the end-point client 144, server 142, and the like,may be a physical computing machine, that is, it may act as a singleprocessing entity, where there is a single operating system on themachine, and which has all of the physical resources of the physicalmachine available for its use. However, a computer may also bepartitioned or multiplexed into a plurality of virtual computingmachines, such as where each virtual computing machine runs its ownoperating system. One of the reasons for implementing a virtualcomputing machine configuration is to establish multiple isolatedvirtual machines on a single hardware platform, such as for running aplurality of client virtual machines on a server, for quality of serviceoffered to different enterprise customer servers operating on the samephysical server 142, the ability to run different types of operatingsystems on a single platform, providing a unique instruction setarchitecture to one virtual machine verses another, and the like. Inembodiments, a plurality of virtual computing machines configured on asingle physical computing machine may each have their own copies of theend-point computer security facility 152, such as all running on thesame physical computing machine, distributed amongst at least twocomputing machines, and the like.

The enterprise facility 102 may include a plurality of server facilities142, such as application servers, communications servers, file servers,database servers, proxy servers, mail servers, fax servers, gameservers, web servers, and the like. A server facility 142, which mayalso be referred to as a server facility 142 application, serverfacility 142 operating system, server facility 142 computer, or thelike, may be an application program or operating system that acceptsclient facility 144 connections in order to service requests fromclients 144. The server facility 142 application may run on the samecomputer as the client facility 144 using it, or the server facility 142and the client facility 144 may be running on different computers andcommunicating across the network. Server facility 142 applications maybe divided among server facility 142 computers, with the dividingdepending upon the workload. For instance, under light load conditionsall server facility 142 applications may run on a single computer andunder heavy load conditions a single server facility 142 application mayrun on multiple computers. In embodiments, the threat managementfacility 100 may provide threat protection to server facilities 142within the enterprise facility 102 as load conditions and applicationchanges are made.

A server facility 142 may also be an appliance facility 140, where theappliance facility 140 provides specific services onto the network.Though the appliance facility 140 is a server facility 142 computer,that may be loaded with a server facility 142 operating system andserver facility 142 application, the enterprise facility 102 user maynot need to configure it, as the configuration may have been performedby a third party. In an embodiment, an enterprise facility 102 appliancemay be a server facility 142 appliance that has been configured andadapted for use with the threat management facility 100, and locatedwithin the facilities of the enterprise facility 102. The enterprisefacility's 102 threat management appliance may enable the enterprisefacility 102 to administer an on-site local managed threat protectionconfiguration, where the administration facility 134 may access thethreat resources through an interface, such as a web portal. In analternate embodiment, the enterprise facility 102 may be managedremotely from a third party, vendor, or the like, without an appliancefacility 140 located within the enterprise facility 102. In thisinstance, the appliance functionality may be a shared hardware productbetween pluralities of enterprises 102. In embodiments, the appliancefacility 140 may be located at the enterprise facility 102, where theenterprise facility 102 maintains a degree of control. In embodiments, ahosted service may be provided, where the appliance 140 may still be anon-site black box to the enterprise facility 102, physically placedthere because of infrastructure requirements, but managed by a thirdparty, vendor, or the like.

Simple server facility 142 appliances may also be utilized across theenterprise facility's 102 network infrastructure, such as switches,routers, wireless routers, hubs and routers, gateways, print servers,net modems, and the like. These simple server facility appliances maynot require configuration by the enterprise facility 102, but mayrequire protection from threats via an end-point computer securityfacility 152. These appliances may provide interconnection serviceswithin the enterprise facility 102 network, and therefore may advancethe spread of a threat if not properly protected.

One way for a client facility 144 to be protected from threats fromwithin the enterprise facility 102 network may be a personal firewall. Apersonal firewall may be an application that controls network traffic toand from a client, permitting or denying communications based on asecurity policy. Personal firewalls may be designed for use byend-users, which may result in protection for only the computer on whichit's installed. Personal firewalls may be able to control networktraffic by providing prompts each time a connection is attempted andadapting security policy accordingly. Personal firewalls may alsoprovide some level of intrusion detection, which may allow the softwareto terminate or block connectivity where it suspects an intrusion isbeing attempted. Other features that may be provided by a personalfirewall may include alerts about outgoing connection attempts, controlof program access to networks, hiding the client from port scans by notresponding to unsolicited network traffic, monitoring of applicationsthat may be listening for incoming connections, monitoring andregulation of incoming and outgoing network traffic, prevention ofunwanted network traffic from installed applications, reportingapplications that make connection attempts, reporting destinationservers with which applications may be attempting communications, andthe like. In embodiments, the personal firewall may be provided by thethreat management facility 100.

Another important component that may be protected by an end-pointcomputer security facility 152 is a network firewall facility 138, whichmay be a hardware or software device that may be configured to permit,deny, or proxy data through a computer network that has different levelsof trust in its source of data. For instance, an internal enterprisefacility 102 network may have a high level of trust, because the sourceof all data has been sourced from within the enterprise facility 102. Anexample of a low level of trust is the Internet 154, because the sourceof data may be unknown. A zone with an intermediate trust level,situated between the Internet 154 and a trusted internal network, may bereferred to as a “perimeter network”. Since firewall facilities 138represent boundaries between threat levels, the end-point computersecurity facility 152 associated with the firewall facility 138 mayprovide resources that may control the flow of threats at thisenterprise facility 102 network entry point. Firewall facilities 138,and associated end-point computer security facility 152, may also beassociated with a network node that may be equipped for interfacingbetween networks that use different protocols. In embodiments, theend-point computer security facility 152 may provide threat protectionin a plurality of network infrastructure locations, such as at theenterprise facility 102 network entry point, i.e. the firewall facility138 or gateway; at the server facility 142; at distribution pointswithin the network, i.e. the hubs and routers 148; at the desktop ofclient facility 144 computers; and the like. In embodiments, the mosteffective location for threat detection may be at the user's computerdesktop end-point computer security facility 152.

The interface between the threat management facility 100 and theenterprise facility 102, and through the appliance facility 140 toembedded end-point computer security facilities, may include a set oftools that may be the same for all enterprise implementations, but alloweach enterprise to implement different controls. In embodiments, thesecontrols may include both automatic actions and managed actions.Automatic actions may include downloads of the end-point computersecurity facility 152 to components of the enterprise facility 102,downloads of updates to existing end-point computer security facilitiesof the enterprise facility 102, uploaded network interaction requestsfrom enterprise facility 102 components to the threat managementfacility 100, and the like. In embodiments, automatic interactionsbetween the enterprise facility 102 and the threat management facility100 may be configured by the threat management facility 100 and anadministration facility 134 in the enterprise facility 102. Theadministration facility 134 may configure policy rules that determineinteractions, such as developing rules for accessing applications, as inwho is authorized and when applications may be used; establishing rulesfor ethical behavior and activities; rules governing the use ofentertainment software such as games, or personal use software such asIM 162 and VoIP 164; rules for determining access to enterprise facility102 computing resources, including authentication, levels of access,risk assessment, and usage history tracking; rules for when an action isnot allowed, such as whether an action is completely deigned or justmodified in its execution; and the like. The administration facility 134may also establish license management, which in turn may furtherdetermine interactions associated with a licensed application. Inembodiments, interactions between the threat management facility 100 andthe enterprise facility 102 may provide threat protection to theenterprise facility 102 by managing the flow of network data into andout of the enterprise facility 102 through automatic actions that may beconfigured by the threat management facility 100 or the administrationfacility 134.

Client facilities 144 within the enterprise facility 102 may beconnected to the enterprise facility 102 network by way of wired networkfacilities 148A or wireless network facilities 148B. Client facilities144 connected to the enterprise facility 102 network via a wiredfacility 148A or wireless facility 148B may receive similar protection,as both connection types are ultimately connected to the same enterprisefacility 102 network, with the same end-point computer security facility152, and the same threat protected enterprise facility 102 environment.Mobile wireless facility clients 144B-F, because of their ability toconnect to any wireless 148B,D network access point, may connect to theinternet 154 outside the enterprise facility 102, and therefore outsidethe threat-protected environment of the enterprise facility 102. In thisinstance the mobile client facility 144B-F, if not for the presence ofthe end-point computer security facility 152 may experience a malwareattack or perform actions counter to enterprise facility 102 establishedpolicies. In addition, there may be a plurality of ways for the threatmanagement facility 100 to protect the out-of-enterprise facility 102mobile client facility 144D-F that has an embedded end-point computersecurity facility 152, such as by providing URI filtering in personalrouters, using a web appliance as a DNS proxy, or the like. Mobileclient facilities 144D-F that are components of the enterprise facility102 but temporarily outside connectivity with the enterprise facility102 network, may be provided with the same threat protection and policycontrol as client facilities 144 inside the enterprise facility 102. Inaddition, mobile client facilities 144B-F may receive the sameinteractions to and from the threat management facility 100 as clientfacilities 144 inside the enterprise facility 102, where mobile clientfacilities 144B-F may be considered a virtual extension of theenterprise facility 102, receiving all the same services via theirembedded end-point computer security facility 152.

Interactions between the threat management facility 100 and thecomponents of the enterprise facility 102, including mobile clientfacility 144B-F extensions of the enterprise facility 102, mayultimately be connected through the internet 154. Threat managementfacility 100 downloads and upgrades to the enterprise facility 102 maybe passed from the firewalled networks of the threat management facility100 through to the end-point computer security facility 152 equippedcomponents of the enterprise facility 102. In turn the end-pointcomputer security facility 152 components of the enterprise facility 102may upload policy and access requests back across the internet 154 andthrough to the threat management facility 100. The Internet 154 however,is also the path through which threats may be transmitted from theirsource. These network threats may include threats from a plurality ofsources, including websites 158, e-mail 160, IM 162, VoIP 164,application software, and the like. These threats may attempt to attacka mobile enterprise client facility 144B-F equipped with an end-pointcomputer security facility 152, but in embodiments, as long as themobile client facility 144B-F is embedded with an end-point computersecurity facility 152, as described above, threats may have no bettersuccess than if the mobile client facility 144B-F were inside theenterprise facility 102.

However, if the mobile client facility 144 were to attempt to connectinto an unprotected connection point, such as at a secondary location108 that is not a part of the enterprise facility 102, the mobile clientfacility 144 may be required to request network interactions through thethreat management facility 100, where contacting the threat managementfacility 100 may be performed prior to any other network action. Inembodiments, the client facility's 144 end-point computer securityfacility 152 may manage actions in unprotected network environments suchas when the client facility 144F is in a secondary location 108 orconnecting wirelessly to a non-enterprise facility 102 wireless internetconnection, where the end-point computer security facility 152 maydictate what actions are allowed, blocked, modified, or the like. Forinstance, if the client facility's 144 end-point computer securityfacility 152 is unable to establish a secured connection to the threatmanagement facility 100, the end-point computer security facility 152may inform the user of such, and recommend that the connection not bemade. In the instance when the user chooses to connect despite therecommendation, the end-point computer security facility 152 may performspecific actions during or after the unprotected connection is made,including running scans during the connection period, running scansafter the connection is terminated, storing interactions for subsequentthreat and policy evaluation, contacting the threat management facility100 upon first instance of a secured connection for further actions andor scanning, restricting access to network and local resources, or thelike. In embodiments, the end-point computer security facility 152 mayperform specific actions to remediate possible threat incursions orpolicy violations during or after the unprotected connection.

The secondary location 108 may have no end-point computer securityfacilities 152 as a part of its computer components, such as itsfirewalls 138B, servers 142B, clients 144G, hubs and routers 148C-D, andthe like. As a result, the computer components of the secondary location108 may be open to threat attacks, and become potential sources ofthreats, as well as any mobile enterprise facility clients 144B-F thatmay be connected to the secondary location's 108 network. In thisinstance, these computer components may now unknowingly spread a threatto other components connected to the network.

Some threats may not come directly from the Internet 154, such as fromnon-enterprise facility controlled mobile devices that are physicallybrought into the enterprise facility 102 and connected to the enterprisefacility 102 client facilities 144. The connection may be made fromdirect connection with the enterprise facility's 102 client facility144, such as through a USB port, or in physical proximity with theenterprise facility's 102 client facility 144 such that a wirelessfacility connection can be established, such as through a Bluetoothconnection. These physical proximity threats 110 may be another mobilecomputing device, a portable memory storage device, a mobilecommunications device, or the like, such as CDs and DVDs 170, memorystick 174, flash drive 174, external hard drive, cell phone 178, PDAs180, MP3 players, digital cameras, point-to-point devices, digitalpicture frames, digital pens, navigation devices, appliances, and thelike. A physical proximity threat 110 may have been previouslyinfiltrated by network threats while connected to an unprotected networkconnection outside the enterprise facility 102, and when connected tothe enterprise facility 102 client facility 144, pose a threat. Becauseof their mobile nature, physical proximity threats 110 may infiltratecomputing resources in any location, such as being physically broughtinto the enterprise facility 102 site, connected to an enterprisefacility 102 client facility 144 while that client facility 144 ismobile, plugged into an unprotected client facility 144 at a secondarylocation 108, and the like. A mobile device, once connected to anunprotected computer resource, may become a physical proximity threat110. In embodiments, the end-point computer security facility 152 mayprovide enterprise facility 102 computing resources with threatprotection against physical proximity threats 110, for instance, throughscanning the device prior to allowing data transfers, through securityvalidation certificates, through establishing a safe zone within theenterprise facility 102 computing resource to transfer data into forevaluation, and the like.

Now that the overall system has been described, we turn towards a set ofvirtualization security protection embodiments. It should be understoodthat the following embodiments may be managed through a threatmanagement facility 100 along with other services, such as thosedescribed herein.

A multi-part internal-external process system may be used to providesecurity protection to a virtual client environment, such as though anend-point computer security facility 152 as described herein, that isdistributed between an internal security portion (e.g. with thevirtualized client) and an external security portion (e.g. on a hostserver managing a plurality of virtualized clients). In embodiments, theinternal protection process may be similar in function and design to theexternal process but smaller and less functional, in that it may onlyneed to provide protection to a singular computing environment, namelyinside of the virtual machine in which it resides. The external systemmay in turn be more complex since it may need to deal with multipleenvironments, such as to secure and coordinate security protection amonginternal processes and other external processes for the totality of highavailability security protection. In embodiments, the system maydynamically adjust to a transitory state of the system as a whole. Forexample, the system may dynamically transition between the externalprocess and the internal process when the virtual client environment ona desktop running on a server is transitioned to a laptop computer thatbecomes disconnected in the process. In another example, the system maydynamically switch to the internal process upon loss of the externalsecurity protection device leaving the inside system as the last layerof defense, which then provides security protection. In embodiments, innormal operation the inside process may lay dormant except forcommunication with the outside process providing the default protection.In embodiments, the outside environment may or may not exist on theclient device being protected. In embodiments, the inside process maytake over when the external process is unavailable, when the insideprocess can no longer communicate with the outside process, when theexternal process is inaccessible, when an outside facility initiates atransfer from the external to the internal process (e.g. through apolicy management facility 112, a security management facility 122,during updates 120 to the external process, through network accessfacilities 124), when a user requests a transfer (e.g. transferring avirtual computer to a physical computing machine), by an administration134 request, and the like. In this way, the client may always beprotected, even when the client looses connectivity with the outsideprotection process. In embodiments, the external process may be externalto an individual virtual machine but located on the host server that ismanaging the virtual machine, external to the host machine but within anenterprise associated with the virtual machine, external to theenterprise, and the like, and may be updated, such as through theupdates facility 120 as discussed herein.

In embodiments, the internal-external security facility may be used tosecure virtualized environments that need high availability securityprotection and high performance distributed modes of operations, such asproviding continuous protection with the internal-external systemcoordinating security, providing for a virtualized environment to betransitory existing on a server or client machine and adjusting thebehavior of the security protection dynamically, providing a securevirtual environment through a process that is external to theenvironment which may reside on its own dedicated device providingsuperior performance characteristics of the system as a whole, providinga high availability production environment where the loss of a securityprotection process will be resumed by another external or internalmulti-part protection process, and the like.

Referring to FIG. 2, in embodiments an external security facility 202may provide security protection 210A to a virtualized client environment208 as long as communication 212A is maintained between the externalsecurity facility 202 and an internal security facility 204 associatedwith the virtualized client 208. If the internal security facility 204loses communication 212B with the external security facility 202, theinternal security facility 204 may then take over security protection210B of the virtualized client environment 208. In embodiments, theexternal security facility 202 may provide the default or ‘normal’security protection to the virtualized client environment 208, and theinternal security facility 204 may provide security protection 210B inthe event that the external security facility 202 is unavailable, suchas though a loss in communications connectivity 212B with the externalsecurity facility 202. That is, the internal security facility 204 maynormally stay in an idle state, but provide protection 210B to thevirtualized client environment 208 when it is determined that theexternal security facility 202 may no longer be providing protection tothe virtualized client environment 208 through an indication providedthrough communication being lost 212B from the external securityfacility 202.

Referring to FIG. 3, in embodiments an external security facility 202may reside on a server 142A, such as in an enterprise 102 and connectedto a plurality of clients 144. The clients 144 may be physicalcomputers, but where their client environments are virtual clientenvironments 208 managed through the server 142A. In embodiments, thevirtual client environments 208 may be protected through the multi-partinternal-external process system, where the external security facility202 protects them while the physical clients 144 are in communicationswith the server 142A, but where an internal security facility 204 takesover when that communication connection is lost, even if only for ashort time. In an example, the external security facility 202 may belocated on a server 142A and configured to provide protection 210A to aplurality of virtualized client environments 208 through the server142A, where each virtualized client environment 208 is associated with aphysical client 144, such as a desktop computer, laptop computer, mobilecomputing facility, and the like. In addition, an internal securityfacility 204 may be associated with each virtualized client environment208, where each of the internal security facilities 204 maintains acommunication connection 212A with the external security facility 202,and takes over security protection 210B if the communication is lost212B. For instance, a physical client 144H may be running a virtualizedclient environment 208A through the server 142A. The physical client144H may also be associated with an internal security facility 204A,that may run in an idle state while maintaining communications 212A withthe external security facility 202. However, should the communicationsbe lost 212B, the internal security facility 204A would take oversecurity protection 210B of the virtualized client environment 208. Anexample of this condition, where the communication is lost 212B, mayinclude a desktop computer being disconnected from the network, such asto move it to a new location; a laptop or other mobile computingfacility taken out of the enterprise 102 and away from the enterprisenetwork; a laptop powered up outside the enterprise 102; and the like.In this way, a client 144 may be provided continuous securityprotection, regardless of whether the client 144 is directly connectedto the external security facility 202 or disconnected. From a securityadministrator perspective, this multi-part internal-external processsystem may allow them to maintain the computer security protectionsystem through the external security facility 202, while being assuredthat protection is seamlessly maintained by the internal securityfacility 204 when the client is not in communications with the externalsecurity facility 202. Further, security updates that have been deployedthrough the external security facility 204 while the client 144 isdisconnected may be provided to physical clients 144 when communicationsis reestablished 212A.

Referring to FIG. 4, in embodiments the present invention may providesecurity to a virtualized client 402 by providing an external securityfacility to protect the virtualized client environment of at least oneof a plurality of virtualized clients 404; providing an internalsecurity facility resident with the client environment, wherein theinternal security facility is enabled to communicate with the externalsecurity facility 408; performing security protection of the clientenvironment through the external security facility when the internalsecurity facility continuously receives communication from the externalsecurity facility 410; and performing security protection of the clientenvironment through the internal security facility when communicationwith the external security facility is lost 412. In embodiments thevirtual client environment 208 may be operating on a server 142A and inassociation with a physical client device 144, such as where thecommunication with the external security facility 202 is not receiveddue to the physical client device 144 losing communications connectivitywith the server 142A, and the internal security facility 204 resides onthe physical client device 144 and provides the security protectionuntil connectivity with the server 142A is re-established. The externalsecurity facility 202 may be a centralized external security facilityresident on a server 142A. The external security facility 202 may beresident on the client device 144. The external 202 and internal 204security facilities may provide protection to the virtualized client 208against malicious code, a malicious application, an unwantedapplication, and the like. The external 202 and internal 204 securityfacilities may provide security through a security management facility122, as described herein. The external 202 and internal 204 securityfacilities may provide security through an end-point computer securityfacility 152, as described herein. The level of security to thevirtualized client 208 as established by the external security facility204 may be maintained by the internal security facility 204. The levelof security to the virtualized client 208 as established by the externalsecurity facility 202 may be maintained in part by the internal securityfacility 204. The protection provided by the internal security facility204 may be similar in function and design to the external securityfacility 202. The internal security facility 204 may be smaller and lessfunctional than the external security facility 202. The communicationmay be determined to be lost after communications from the externalsecurity facility 202 to the internal security facility 204 is notreceived for a predetermined time. The communication lost may be atransitory change in communications between the internal 204 andexternal 202 security facilities. The communication may be lost due to adisconnection from a network connection. The communication may be lostdue to a disruption of a network connection. The communication may belost is due to conditions internal to a physical client device 144associated with the virtual client. The communication may be lost as thevirtualized client environment 208 is transitioned between differentphysical client devices 144. The combined security protection of theinternal 204 and external 202 security facilities may be a multi-partdistributed vendor neutral virtualization system, such as where nothird-party API is required to run the system. The internal securityfacility 204 may be operationally dormant except for communication withthe external security facility 202 until the communication is lost.

In embodiments, a ‘loss of communications’ may not be required in orderfor security protection to be switched from a host-provided securityfacility to a client-provided security facility. For example, a serverand virtualized client machines may be collocated on the same host,where the server is protecting the client machines, and where the clientmachines may be accessed from a client machine (e.g. a laptop) via aremote access protocol. In the instance when the user wants to use theclient machine away from the office, the process may be that the user“checks out” the client virtual machine from the server to the laptop.An automatic process provided by the virtualization system may thenfreeze the client on the server, copy it over the laptop, and restart iton the laptop. In this process there is no point where communications isnecessarily lost with the server. However, the system may then provide alocal dormant protection service associated with the virtualized client,where the dormant protection service would be activated by thevirtualization system that knows the relationship between the protectingserver and the client virtual machine.

Referring to FIG. 5, a host machine 502 may manage a plurality ofvirtual machines 510, such as though a supervisory process 504. The hostmachine 502 may also provide a threat management facility 508 forproviding security protection to the plurality of virtual machines 510,where the threat management facility 508 may be a threat managementfacility provided locally on the host machine 502 at the enterprise; athreat management facility 100 provided either locally on the hostmachine, externally within the enterprise, remote from the enterprise;and the like. A local security facility 514A-B may be provided to atleast a first virtual machine 512 of the plurality of virtual machines510, where the local security facility 514A may be in a dormant statewhen the threat management facility 508 is protecting the virtualmachine 512. However, in the absence of the threat management facility508, the virtual machine's 512 local security facility 514B may thentake over, and provide security protection for the virtual machine 512.In embodiments, the initiation of the switch from the virtual machine512 being protected by the threat management facility 502 to the localsecurity facility 514B may be by a user of the virtual machine 512, anadministration facility 134, through security management 122, throughpolicy management 112, through network access rules 124, by the hostmachine 502, by the threat management facility 508, 100, and the like.

Referring to FIG. 6, in embodiments, methods and systems of the presentinvention may provide security to a virtual machine 602, comprising ahost machine that manages a plurality of virtual machines associatedwith an enterprise through a supervisory process, where the host machineincludes a threat management facility coupled in a communicatingrelationship with the plurality of virtual machines and where the threatmanagement facility enforces a security policy of the enterprise for theplurality of virtual machines 602. A first virtual machine from amongthe plurality of virtual machines may operate in at least two states (1)608 the first virtual machine may be capable of operating in a firststate on the host machine where the security policy is enforced by thethreat management facility, and (2) 610 the first virtual machine may becapable of operating in a second state where a local security facilityexecutable on the first virtual machine autonomously enforces thesecurity policy in the absence of the threat management facility. Inembodiments, the transition from the first state to the second state maybe initiated automatically when the virtual machine loses thecommunicating relationship with the host machine, when the virtualmachine loses the communicating relationship with the threat managementfacility, and the like. The first virtual machine may be executing onthe host machine while operating in the second state, on a virtualmachine separate from the plurality of virtual machines, and the like.Further, the first virtual machine may be executing on ahardware-computing device independent from the host machine whileoperating in the second state, such as a personal computer, a laptopcomputer, a mobile communications device, and the like. A user of thehardware-computing device may initiate a transition from the first stateto the second state in order to operate the first virtual machine on thehardware-computing device independently of the host machine. The hostmachine may initiate the transition from the first state to the secondstate. The security policy implemented by the local security facilitymay be a subset of the security policy implemented by the threatmanagement facility. The security facilities may provide protectionagainst malicious code, a malicious application, an unwantedapplication, and the like.

In embodiments, a computer program product of the present invention maycomprise computer executable code embodied in a non-transitory computerreadable medium that, when executing on one or more computing devices,provides a virtual machine configured to perform the steps of (1)operating in a first state on a host machine that hosts a plurality ofvirtual machines and provides a threat management facility for enforcinga security policy for the virtual machine; and (2) operating in a secondstate, where the second state includes a local security facilityconfigured to autonomously enforce the security policy in the absence ofthe threat management facility. In embodiments, the transition from thefirst state to the second state may be initiated automatically when thevirtual machine loses the communicating relationship with the hostmachine, when the virtual machine loses the communicating relationshipwith the threat management facility, and the like. The first virtualmachine may be executing on the host machine while operating in thesecond state, on a virtual machine separate from the plurality ofvirtual machines, and the like. Further, the first virtual machine maybe executing on a hardware-computing device independent from the hostmachine while operating in the second state, such as a personalcomputer, a laptop computer, a mobile communications device, and thelike. A user of the hardware-computing device may initiate a transitionfrom the first state to the second state in order to operate the firstvirtual machine on the hardware-computing device independently of thehost machine. The host machine may initiate the transition from thefirst state to the second state. The security policy implemented by thelocal security facility may be a subset of the security policyimplemented by the threat management facility. The security facilitiesmay provide protection against malicious code, a malicious application,an unwanted application, and the like.

The methods and systems described herein may be deployed in part or inwhole through a machine that executes computer software, program codes,and/or instructions on a processor. The present invention may beimplemented as a method on the machine, as a system or apparatus as partof or in relation to the machine, or as a computer program productembodied in a computer readable medium executing on one or more of themachines. The processor may be part of a server, client, networkinfrastructure, mobile computing platform, stationary computingplatform, or other computing platform. A processor may be any kind ofcomputational or processing device capable of executing programinstructions, codes, binary instructions and the like. The processor maybe or include a signal processor, digital processor, embedded processor,microprocessor or any variant such as a co-processor (math co-processor,graphic co-processor, communication co-processor and the like) and thelike that may directly or indirectly facilitate execution of programcode or program instructions stored thereon. In addition, the processormay enable execution of multiple programs, threads, and codes. Thethreads may be executed simultaneously to enhance the performance of theprocessor and to facilitate simultaneous operations of the application.By way of implementation, methods, program codes, program instructionsand the like described herein may be implemented in one or more thread.The thread may spawn other threads that may have assigned prioritiesassociated with them; the processor may execute these threads based onpriority or any other order based on instructions provided in theprogram code. The processor may include memory that stores methods,codes, instructions and programs as described herein and elsewhere. Theprocessor may access a storage medium through an interface that maystore methods, codes, and instructions as described herein andelsewhere. The storage medium associated with the processor for storingmethods, programs, codes, program instructions or other type ofinstructions capable of being executed by the computing or processingdevice may include but may not be limited to one or more of a CD-ROM,DVD, memory, hard disk, flash drive, RAM, ROM, cache and the like.

A processor may include one or more cores that may enhance speed andperformance of a multiprocessor. In embodiments, the process may be adual core processor, quad core processors, other chip-levelmultiprocessor and the like that combine two or more independent cores(called a die).

The methods and systems described herein may be deployed in part or inwhole through a machine that executes computer software on a server,client, firewall, gateway, hub, router, or other such computer and/ornetworking hardware. The software program may be associated with aserver that may include a file server, print server, domain server,internet server, intranet server and other variants such as secondaryserver, host server, distributed server and the like. The server mayinclude one or more of memories, processors, computer readable media,storage media, ports (physical and virtual), communication devices, andinterfaces capable of accessing other servers, clients, machines, anddevices through a wired or a wireless medium, and the like. The methods,programs or codes as described herein and elsewhere may be executed bythe server. In addition, other devices required for execution of methodsas described in this application may be considered as a part of theinfrastructure associated with the server.

The server may provide an interface to other devices including, withoutlimitation, clients, other servers, printers, database servers, printservers, file servers, communication servers, distributed servers andthe like. Additionally, this coupling and/or connection may facilitateremote execution of program across the network. The networking of someor all of these devices may facilitate parallel processing of a programor method at one or more location without deviating from the scope ofthe invention. In addition, any of the devices attached to the serverthrough an interface may include at least one storage medium capable ofstoring methods, programs, code and/or instructions. A centralrepository may provide program instructions to be executed on differentdevices. In this implementation, the remote repository may act as astorage medium for program code, instructions, and programs.

The software program may be associated with a client that may include afile client, print client, domain client, internet client, intranetclient and other variants such as secondary client, host client,distributed client and the like. The client may include one or more ofmemories, processors, computer readable media, storage media, ports(physical and virtual), communication devices, and interfaces capable ofaccessing other clients, servers, machines, and devices through a wiredor a wireless medium, and the like. The methods, programs or codes asdescribed herein and elsewhere may be executed by the client. Inaddition, other devices required for execution of methods as describedin this application may be considered as a part of the infrastructureassociated with the client.

The client may provide an interface to other devices including, withoutlimitation, servers, other clients, printers, database servers, printservers, file servers, communication servers, distributed servers andthe like. Additionally, this coupling and/or connection may facilitateremote execution of program across the network. The networking of someor all of these devices may facilitate parallel processing of a programor method at one or more location without deviating from the scope ofthe invention. In addition, any of the devices attached to the clientthrough an interface may include at least one storage medium capable ofstoring methods, programs, applications, code and/or instructions. Acentral repository may provide program instructions to be executed ondifferent devices. In this implementation, the remote repository may actas a storage medium for program code, instructions, and programs.

The methods and systems described herein may be deployed in part or inwhole through network infrastructures. The network infrastructure mayinclude elements such as computing devices, servers, routers, hubs,firewalls, clients, personal computers, communication devices, routingdevices and other active and passive devices, modules and/or componentsas known in the art. The computing and/or non-computing device(s)associated with the network infrastructure may include, apart from othercomponents, a storage medium such as flash memory, buffer, stack, RAM,ROM and the like. The processes, methods, program codes, instructionsdescribed herein and elsewhere may be executed by one or more of thenetwork infrastructural elements.

The methods, program codes, and instructions described herein andelsewhere may be implemented on a cellular network having multiplecells. The cellular network may either be frequency division multipleaccess (FDMA) network or code division multiple access (CDMA) network.The cellular network may include mobile devices, cell sites, basestations, repeaters, antennas, towers, and the like. The cell networkmay be a GSM, GPRS, 3G, EVDO, mesh, or other networks types.

The methods, programs codes, and instructions described herein andelsewhere may be implemented on or through mobile devices. The mobiledevices may include navigation devices, cell phones, mobile phones,mobile personal digital assistants, laptops, palmtops, netbooks, pagers,electronic books readers, music players and the like. These devices mayinclude, apart from other components, a storage medium such as a flashmemory, buffer, RAM, ROM and one or more computing devices. Thecomputing devices associated with mobile devices may be enabled toexecute program codes, methods, and instructions stored thereon.Alternatively, the mobile devices may be configured to executeinstructions in collaboration with other devices. The mobile devices maycommunicate with base stations interfaced with servers and configured toexecute program codes. The mobile devices may communicate on a peer topeer network, mesh network, or other communications network. The programcode may be stored on the storage medium associated with the server andexecuted by a computing device embedded within the server. The basestation may include a computing device and a storage medium. The storagedevice may store program codes and instructions executed by thecomputing devices associated with the base station.

The computer software, program codes, and/or instructions may be storedand/or accessed on machine readable media that may include: computercomponents, devices, and recording media that retain digital data usedfor computing for some interval of time; semiconductor storage known asrandom access memory (RAM); mass storage typically for more permanentstorage, such as optical discs, forms of magnetic storage like harddisks, tapes, drums, cards and other types; processor registers, cachememory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory; optical storage such asCD, DVD; removable media such as flash memory (e.g. USB sticks or keys),floppy disks, magnetic tape, paper tape, punch cards, standalone RAMdisks, Zip drives, removable mass storage, off-line, and the like; othercomputer memory such as dynamic memory, static memory, read/writestorage, mutable storage, read only, random access, sequential access,location addressable, file addressable, content addressable, networkattached storage, storage area network, bar codes, magnetic ink, and thelike.

The methods and systems described herein may transform physical and/oror intangible items from one state to another. The methods and systemsdescribed herein may also transform data representing physical and/orintangible items from one state to another.

The elements described and depicted herein, including in flow charts andblock diagrams throughout the figures, imply logical boundaries betweenthe elements. However, according to software or hardware engineeringpractices, the depicted elements and the functions thereof may beimplemented on machines through computer executable media having aprocessor capable of executing program instructions stored thereon as amonolithic software structure, as standalone software modules, or asmodules that employ external routines, code, services, and so forth, orany combination of these, and all such implementations may be within thescope of the present disclosure. Examples of such machines may include,but may not be limited to, personal digital assistants, laptops,personal computers, mobile phones, other handheld computing devices,medical equipment, wired or wireless communication devices, transducers,chips, calculators, satellites, tablet PCs, electronic books, gadgets,electronic devices, devices having artificial intelligence, computingdevices, networking equipments, servers, routers and the like.Furthermore, the elements depicted in the flow chart and block diagramsor any other logical component may be implemented on a machine capableof executing program instructions. Thus, while the foregoing drawingsand descriptions set forth functional aspects of the disclosed systems,no particular arrangement of software for implementing these functionalaspects should be inferred from these descriptions unless explicitlystated or otherwise clear from the context. Similarly, it will beappreciated that the various steps identified and described above may bevaried, and that the order of steps may be adapted to particularapplications of the techniques disclosed herein. All such variations andmodifications are intended to fall within the scope of this disclosure.As such, the depiction and/or description of an order for various stepsshould not be understood to require a particular order of execution forthose steps, unless required by a particular application, or explicitlystated or otherwise clear from the context.

The methods and/or processes described above, and steps thereof, may berealized in hardware, software or any combination of hardware andsoftware suitable for a particular application. The hardware may includea general purpose computer and/or dedicated computing device or specificcomputing device or particular aspect or component of a specificcomputing device. The processes may be realized in one or moremicroprocessors, microcontrollers, embedded microcontrollers,programmable digital signal processors or other programmable device,along with internal and/or external memory. The processes may also, orinstead, be embodied in an application specific integrated circuit, aprogrammable gate array, programmable array logic, or any other deviceor combination of devices that may be configured to process electronicsignals. It will further be appreciated that one or more of theprocesses may be realized as a computer executable code capable of beingexecuted on a machine readable medium.

The computer executable code may be created using a structuredprogramming language such as C, an object oriented programming languagesuch as C++, or any other high-level or low-level programming language(including assembly languages, hardware description languages, anddatabase programming languages and technologies) that may be stored,compiled or interpreted to run on one of the above devices, as well asheterogeneous combinations of processors, processor architectures, orcombinations of different hardware and software, or any other machinecapable of executing program instructions.

Thus, in one aspect, each method described above and combinationsthereof may be embodied in computer executable code that, when executingon one or more computing devices, performs the steps thereof. In anotheraspect, the methods may be embodied in systems that perform the stepsthereof, and may be distributed across devices in a number of ways, orall of the functionality may be integrated into a dedicated, standalonedevice or other hardware. In another aspect, the means for performingthe steps associated with the processes described above may include anyof the hardware and/or software described above. All such permutationsand combinations are intended to fall within the scope of the presentdisclosure.

While the invention has been disclosed in connection with the preferredembodiments shown and described in detail, various modifications andimprovements thereon will become readily apparent to those skilled inthe art. Accordingly, the spirit and scope of the present invention isnot to be limited by the foregoing examples, but is to be understood inthe broadest sense allowable by law.

All documents referenced herein are hereby incorporated by reference.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: a host machine that managesa plurality of virtual machines associated with an enterprise through asupervisory process, the host machine including a threat managementfacility coupled in a communicating relationship with the plurality ofvirtual machines and enforcing a security policy of the enterprise forthe plurality of virtual machines; and a first virtual machine fromamong the plurality of virtual machines, the first virtual machinecapable of operating in a first state on the host machine wherein thesecurity policy is enforced by the threat management facility, and thefirst virtual machine capable of operating in a second state wherein alocal security facility executable on the first virtual machineautonomously enforces the security policy in the absence of the threatmanagement facility.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein a transition fromthe first state to the second state is initiated automatically when thevirtual machine loses the communicating relationship with the hostmachine.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein a transition from the firststate to the second state is initiated automatically when the virtualmachine loses the communicating relationship with the threat managementfacility.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the first virtual machine isexecuting on the host machine while operating in the second state. 5.The system of claim 1, wherein the threat management facility isoperating on a virtual machine separate from the plurality of virtualmachines.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the security policyimplemented by the local security facility is a subset of the securitypolicy implemented by the threat management facility.
 7. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the security facilities provide protection against atleast one of malicious code, a malicious application, and an unwantedapplication.
 8. The system of claim 1, further comprising ahardware-computing device independent from the host machine, wherein thefirst virtual machine is executing on the hardware-computing devicewhile operating in the second state.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein auser of the hardware-computing device initiates a transition from thefirst state to the second state in order to operate the first virtualmachine on the hardware-computing device independently of the hostmachine.
 10. The system of claim 8, wherein the host machine initiates atransition from the first state to the second state.
 11. A methodcomprising: providing a host machine that manages a plurality of virtualmachines associated with an enterprise through a supervisory process,executing a threat management facility on the host machine coupled in acommunicating relationship with the plurality of virtual machines, thethreat management facility enforcing a security policy of the enterprisefor the plurality of virtual machines; operating a first virtual machinefrom among the plurality of virtual machines in a first state on thehost machine wherein the security policy is enforced by the threatmanagement facility; and operating the first virtual machine in a secondstate wherein a local security facility executable on the first virtualmachine autonomously enforces the security policy in the absence of thethreat management facility.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein atransition from the first state to the second state is initiatedautomatically when the virtual machine loses the communicatingrelationship with the threat management facility.
 13. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the first virtual machine is executing on the hostmachine while operating in the second state.
 14. The method of claim 11,further comprising a hardware-computing device independent from the hostmachine, wherein the first virtual machine is executing on thehardware-computing device while operating in the second state.
 15. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the security facilities provide protectionagainst at least one of malicious code, a malicious application, and anunwanted application.
 16. A computer program product comprising computerexecutable code embodied in a non-transitory computer readable mediumthat, when executing on one or more computing devices, provides avirtual machine configured to perform the steps of: operating in a firststate on a host machine that hosts a plurality of virtual machines andprovides a threat management facility for enforcing a security policyfor the virtual machine; and operating in a second state, wherein thesecond state includes a local security facility configured toautonomously enforce the security policy in the absence of the threatmanagement facility.
 17. The computer program product of claim 16,wherein a transition from the first state to the second state isinitiated automatically when the virtual machine loses a communicatingrelationship with the threat management facility of the host machine.18. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the first virtualmachine is executing on the host machine while operating in the secondstate.
 19. The computer program product of claim 16, further comprisinga hardware-computing device independent from the host machine, whereinthe first virtual machine is executing on the hardware-computing devicewhile operating in the second state.
 20. The computer program product ofclaim 16, wherein the security facilities provide protection against atleast one of malicious code, a malicious application, and an unwantedapplication.